Alon Davidi, who heads Sderot's local grassroots struggle against the lack of government action against Kassam rockets, told Arutz-7 that only a third of the promised 210 million shekels has been delivered so far, "and the work is proceeding slowly - there seems to be no rush, even though Kassam rockets are fired daily."
"The promised money is supposed to be used only for protecting schools," Davidi said, "and we want to have day-care centers protected as well. We don't want to send our children to schools that are open and unprotected to daily Kassam rocket attacks. So far, the reinforcement that has been done is very partial, ugly, and not effective. The windows of three classrooms in my children's school building are all covered; they expect my 7-year-old son in another classroom to hear the Red Dawn warning alarm, and run 70-100 meters from one class to another before the rocket hits. And not to mention that Kassams sometimes fall without even a Red Dawn warning."
Just hours after Davidi talked with Arutz-7, two Kassam rockets hit Sderot, damaging three cars. Soon afterwards, Israel Air Force craft bombed what is felt to be the two Kassam launchers used in the attack.
The Supreme Court will hear the petition in three weeks's time, Davidi said. "But the main point," he continued, "is that for nearly four months, we have been doing all we can to persuade the public and the government that the IDF must enter Gaza and take care of this problem once and for all. Former generals such as Yom Tov Samiah, Tzvika Fogel, and Doron Almog, and Public Security Minister Avi Dichter, all agree that we have to enter Gaza if we don't want to have another Hizbullah situation on our hands."
"We feel as if we are being ignored," Davidi lamented. "It's very convenient for the government to ignore us and instead point all the time to the North and what's needed there. Yes, there was a war there, but when help it was needed, it came immediately - maybe because the mayors there are all from Kadima and Labor."
Government Tours to the North - but not to Sderot
"A few days ago," Davidi said, "an important Jew from Miami was hosted by the government, and they took him to the north - but they didn't even bring him to Sderot. With the help of a good friend, we invited him to Sderot, and I took him on a 2-hour tour so he could see what's going on here. He met the Abukasis family, whose daughter Ella was killed by a Kassam, and he saw several houses that were hit by rockets. I showed him my house, where our five children sleep not in their bedrooms - my wife refuses to allow them to - but in the one room that is reinforced; it has no windows, and in the morning we have to turn on the light in order for them to know that morning has arrived. This is a reality in which children should not have to grow up."
"I also brought him to the home of a family whose home was damaged by a Kassam not long ago - and listen to this: Instead of the government assessors taking care of the damage, like they used to do, they make this man - who earns only 3,000 shekels a month and whose son was killed in Lebanon in 1997 - pay an advance of 2,000 shekels to a contractor, and they say they'll reimburse him in two months. Is this how citizens should be treated? Must we also live with the constant fear of rockets, and also have to advance the money for the damage they cause to our homes?"
Not everyone is able to deal successfully with the constant tension of the fear of a Kassam hitting their house. Attorney Eli Maman recently moved with his wife and five children to Rosh HaAyin, explaining that the children's fears, bed-wetting and lack of sleep had become too much to handle. He hopes to return, but in the meanwhile, he said, "I am sure that the day will come when our country's leaders will not be able to face the residents of Sderot and say they had no hand in the deaths and damage that was caused."
Davidi said that the task force he heads sent recorded "Red Dawn" warning alert systems to the Knesset Members' cell phones when rockets fell last week - "and do you know how many MKs called in response and asked what they could do to help? Not one!"
Arutz-7's Uzi Baruch said, "Well, maybe if you send it a few times, they'll respond."
Davidi: "Do you hear what you're saying? Should we have to beg for someone to pay attention to us? We're not interested in gifts or charity, but in security. Ten years ago, I came to Sderot with other families, and we established a Yeshivat Hesder, which is now one of the largest ones in the country, and we built a Torah educational core group of some 120 families - we came toSderot, not to receive gifts, but because it's a nice town with great people and we wanted to be part of building it up. All we want now is to be safe from rockets."
Peretz vs. Security Experts
Speaking this morning with Arutz-7, Davidi added, "Defense Minister Amir Peretz - a resident of Sderot himself - actually said this morning that he will not enter Gaza just because of popular demand. This, in spite of all the security experts who say that it is obvious that if we don't go in now, we'll have to go in later, under much worse circumstances... At this rate, we will have to step up our protests - bringing our protest tent to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and broadcasting our Red Dawn warning alerts in other cities as well."
"Why is it," Davidi asks, "that during the war in the north, the national radio broadcasts were interrupted dozens of times a day in order to announce that Katyusha rockets had been fired? We demand the same - that whenever a Kassam rocket is fired at the north, the whole country should know."
"The promised money is supposed to be used only for protecting schools," Davidi said, "and we want to have day-care centers protected as well. We don't want to send our children to schools that are open and unprotected to daily Kassam rocket attacks. So far, the reinforcement that has been done is very partial, ugly, and not effective. The windows of three classrooms in my children's school building are all covered; they expect my 7-year-old son in another classroom to hear the Red Dawn warning alarm, and run 70-100 meters from one class to another before the rocket hits. And not to mention that Kassams sometimes fall without even a Red Dawn warning."
Just hours after Davidi talked with Arutz-7, two Kassam rockets hit Sderot, damaging three cars. Soon afterwards, Israel Air Force craft bombed what is felt to be the two Kassam launchers used in the attack.
The Supreme Court will hear the petition in three weeks's time, Davidi said. "But the main point," he continued, "is that for nearly four months, we have been doing all we can to persuade the public and the government that the IDF must enter Gaza and take care of this problem once and for all. Former generals such as Yom Tov Samiah, Tzvika Fogel, and Doron Almog, and Public Security Minister Avi Dichter, all agree that we have to enter Gaza if we don't want to have another Hizbullah situation on our hands."
"We feel as if we are being ignored," Davidi lamented. "It's very convenient for the government to ignore us and instead point all the time to the North and what's needed there. Yes, there was a war there, but when help it was needed, it came immediately - maybe because the mayors there are all from Kadima and Labor."
Government Tours to the North - but not to Sderot
"A few days ago," Davidi said, "an important Jew from Miami was hosted by the government, and they took him to the north - but they didn't even bring him to Sderot. With the help of a good friend, we invited him to Sderot, and I took him on a 2-hour tour so he could see what's going on here. He met the Abukasis family, whose daughter Ella was killed by a Kassam, and he saw several houses that were hit by rockets. I showed him my house, where our five children sleep not in their bedrooms - my wife refuses to allow them to - but in the one room that is reinforced; it has no windows, and in the morning we have to turn on the light in order for them to know that morning has arrived. This is a reality in which children should not have to grow up."
"I also brought him to the home of a family whose home was damaged by a Kassam not long ago - and listen to this: Instead of the government assessors taking care of the damage, like they used to do, they make this man - who earns only 3,000 shekels a month and whose son was killed in Lebanon in 1997 - pay an advance of 2,000 shekels to a contractor, and they say they'll reimburse him in two months. Is this how citizens should be treated? Must we also live with the constant fear of rockets, and also have to advance the money for the damage they cause to our homes?"
Not everyone is able to deal successfully with the constant tension of the fear of a Kassam hitting their house. Attorney Eli Maman recently moved with his wife and five children to Rosh HaAyin, explaining that the children's fears, bed-wetting and lack of sleep had become too much to handle. He hopes to return, but in the meanwhile, he said, "I am sure that the day will come when our country's leaders will not be able to face the residents of Sderot and say they had no hand in the deaths and damage that was caused."
Davidi said that the task force he heads sent recorded "Red Dawn" warning alert systems to the Knesset Members' cell phones when rockets fell last week - "and do you know how many MKs called in response and asked what they could do to help? Not one!"
Arutz-7's Uzi Baruch said, "Well, maybe if you send it a few times, they'll respond."
Davidi: "Do you hear what you're saying? Should we have to beg for someone to pay attention to us? We're not interested in gifts or charity, but in security. Ten years ago, I came to Sderot with other families, and we established a Yeshivat Hesder, which is now one of the largest ones in the country, and we built a Torah educational core group of some 120 families - we came toSderot, not to receive gifts, but because it's a nice town with great people and we wanted to be part of building it up. All we want now is to be safe from rockets."
Peretz vs. Security Experts
Speaking this morning with Arutz-7, Davidi added, "Defense Minister Amir Peretz - a resident of Sderot himself - actually said this morning that he will not enter Gaza just because of popular demand. This, in spite of all the security experts who say that it is obvious that if we don't go in now, we'll have to go in later, under much worse circumstances... At this rate, we will have to step up our protests - bringing our protest tent to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and broadcasting our Red Dawn warning alerts in other cities as well."
"Why is it," Davidi asks, "that during the war in the north, the national radio broadcasts were interrupted dozens of times a day in order to announce that Katyusha rockets had been fired? We demand the same - that whenever a Kassam rocket is fired at the north, the whole country should know."